brianmmunoz

[brianmmunoz]

Several people said they hope their families’ losses serve as a wake-up call to people in Southern Illinois who believe the virus is a hoax or the response to it is overblown. 

[brianmmunoz]

As the Illinois High School Association sidelined a majority of fall sports due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, things look a little differently in neighboring states. 

Central High School in Cape Girardeau, Missouri hosted their home opener  after their first game against a St. Louis-area school was canceled in attempts to mitigate the spread of the virus. 

Officials at the school took safety measures as well, including an online-only ticketing system, encouraging mask-wearing, and physical distancing, and turning off public water fountains. 

In addition, the game was designated as "senior night" because, as one family told me, "we just don't know how far we'll play into the season." Despite the changes and challenges, many of the seniors were simply excited to be there and to play. 

The Central Tigers stomped out the St. Charles West Warriors, 42-14, during their home opener. During the 2019 meeting between the teams – a singular point tipped on the side of Cape Central.  

Reflecting on being able to play fall football, one athlete said: “I’d be devastated if we had to wait until the spring." That continues to be the reality for football players in Illinois amid a global pandemic.

[brianmmunoz]

Friday night lights typically dominate high schools, but in rural Southern Illinois, the glow of the lights fall on a different sport — baseball.

"We're a baseball town," said Dana Pearson, Cobden Appleknockers head baseball coach. He estimates that fall baseball has been played in Cobden and the surrounding small towns for the better part of half a century. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has halted the majority of school-sanctioned youth sports, but the tradition of fall baseball has been allowed to continue with safety measures such as social distancing. 

The ability to play, despite it being a non-conference competition, has been "therapy" for the students, Pearson said, which is critical in a time when schools are leaning on remote learning to prevent the spread of the virus.

[brianmmunoz]

The Southern Illinois Unity Coalition, along with other community organizations, held a demonstration in Carbondale to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington.

[brianmmunoz]

It’s not every day I get to talk to a living legend and trailblazer –– that’s exactly who Paulette Curkin is. The impact she’s made on the Southern Illinois LGBTQ community is incredible. Here’s my latest feature for The Southern Illinoisan. 

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Black students were found to be disproportionately disciplined at Carbondale Community High School when compared to their peers, according to an analysis by The Southern Illinoisan looking at school and federal discipline data.

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The Egyptian Health Department and local officials are pleading with the residents of Saline, Gallatin and White counties to follow health guidelines in attempts to help mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus within their community as numbers and hospitalizations have quickly started to rise.

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“It’s worse than in Chicago and I’ll be frank, if we don’t see some change here, the virus will cause some businesses to close and an increasing percentage of people (will) get sick and some will even die."

[brianmmunoz]

With the start of school weeks out, questions remain how education and health officials will coordinate contact tracing and notification when positive cases arise among students, faculty and staff. 

[brianmmunoz]

Demonstrations have popped up across the country in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died while in police custody on Memorial Day. While much of the attention has focused on mass protests and violent scuffles in large cities, Southern Illinois has seen many demonstrations across its rural communities. I spent the month of June covering many of them – here's a visual recap.

[brianmmunoz]

A lone John Deere lawnmower, adorned with two large American flags, sits near a quiet road outside Consolidated Grain and Barge in Mound City, a town of roughly 500 nestled against the Ohio River.

A passerby wouldn’t think anything of it, but for workers at the grain company, the mower, crinkled and dented in a few places, was synonymous with Robert Leon “Bob” Winding, who passed away at his home at age 82.

[brianmmunoz]

The Southern Illinoisan spent the past week interviewing more than two dozen administrators, parents, teachers, students and health officials about the return of school next month. Here’s what many of them had to say.

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As SIU prepares to welcome thousands of students to campus in August amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the University Museum has had to put exhibitions and in-person programming on hold as they pivot their plans for the fall semester.

My latest for the Prairie State Museums Project and The Southern Illinoisan with the support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.